1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for loading a stack of substantially light-insensitive sheets in an apparatus for the image-wise exposure of such sheets, and to a pack of substantially light-insensitive sheets, thermal-sensitive sheets in particular.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Many systems for loading stacks of sheets in a photographic processing machine are known. They include so-called daylight loading systems in which a lighttightly wrapped sheet pack is put in an opened magazine-like slide which then is lighttightly closed, after which the wrapping is manually or automatically removed and the sheets can be taken from the stack one-by-one for their exposure, or for their automatic loading in an appropriate cassette, e.g. for X-ray photography. These systems also include systems with thermal-sensitive, or more generally non light-sensitive sheets, in which a stack of sheets the protective wrapper of which has been removed is laid in a holder in the machine from which they are dispensed one by one for being image-wise exposed.
In all those cases the stack of sheets lies in a horizontal position so that it is easy for the operator to gently locate a stack of sheets in the apparatus. A disadvantage of the location of sheets in a horizontal plane is a notable increase of the footprint of the processing machine, in particular for the processing of sheets of sizes larger than an A4 size, e.g. sheets measuring 14.times.14" (35.56.times.35.56 mm) and 14".times.17" (35.56.times.43.18 mm) as usual in radiography.